Chances at CalTech

[aiman]

<p>I'm thinking of applying to Caltech, I need advice on whether it's a futile effort or not:</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<pre><code>* RD
* SAT: 690M, 680CR, 670W (I know they're horrible!)
* SAT IIs: Math 2, Physics, Chemistry (Awaiting results - 19 Dec)
* GPA: 98.92 (we don't really do 4.0 scale)
* Rank: 1/42 Weighted
* AMC/AIME/USAMO: N/A
* Other Olympiads:
* Other stats: AS-Level Chemisty A, Biology A, Maths A, Physics B.
</code></pre>

<p>Predicted A-Level Grades: Chemisty A, Biology A, Maths A, Physics A.
* Course load: Most rigorous available
Subjective:</p>

<pre><code>* Essays: Essay 1 is quite nice, essay 2 i'll copy from my stanford app as it was the same topic. The box I still have to fill, I have to think of something good for it :confused:
* Teacher Recs: I'm pretty confident my Prinicipal and Science rec will be very good. Humanities - not sure, I haven't talked with the humanities teacher for quite some time.
* Counselor Rec: Should be pretty good.
* Hook (if any): Done lots of labwork... can't think of much else
</code></pre>

<p>Extracirricular:</p>

<p>Students’ Association - Secretary-General (also Founder)
Students’ Literary Society
Model United Nations - Representative for Switzerland (Gr.11); Representative for Germany (Gr.12)
Physicists’ Society - Vice-Chairman
Applied Mathematics Society
Bowling Association
Manarat Soccer Team
Manarat Cricket Team</p>

<p>Awards won:
Valedictorian of Grade 9
Valedictorian of Grade 10
Physicist of the Year Award (Grade 11)
Advanced Mathematics Achievement Award (Grade 11)
Business Studies Merit Award (Grade 10)
Science Merit Award 2003 (Grade 9)
Most Political Figure (Grade 11)
Cricket East Arabian Tournament Award (Grade 10)
Soccer – Most Valuable Player (Grade 9)</p>

<p>Location/Person:</p>

<pre><code>* State or Country: Saudi Arabia
* Citizenship : US
* School Type: Private, Endorsed by the Ministry of Education
* Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
* Gender: M
* major strength/weakness: Strengths: Got top grade in chem last year. Good at physics/biology; Weaknesses: Not taken enough humanities classes. Weak SAT Scores...
</code></pre>

[tech_fan]

<p>If you do well on your SATII's you certainly have a fighting chance. The verbal scores don't matter so much since you live abroad. Given a strong application, we might agree to view the math SAT as a fluke. I'd tell you if you were dead in the water, and you're not. Give it a shot.</p>

<p>(By the way, a smaller number of humanities courses is not really a terrible weakness from Caltech's point of view.)</p>